NEW YORK (AP) — Amy Adams wore a strapless, dark blue Gucci couture gown and Hollywood's "it" fashion darling of the year, Lupita Nyong'o, showed up for the Oscars in a goddess look of ice-blue silk Sunday night.

Nyong'o, atop the awards season's best-dressed lists as she made the rounds for "12 Years a Slave," pulled off deep plunges front and back — and pleats top and bottom from Prada. Unafraid on red carpets, the look was full rather than form-fitting and accompanied by one of her favorite dressy headbands.

"It's a color that just lets her skin shine," said Hal Rubenstein, editor at large of InStyle magazine. "There was some faint beading up the bottom and she compared it to Champagne bubbles."

Nyong'o's fellow fashionista Jennifer Lawrence was the girl on fire in a bright orange-red strapless from Dior, while Cate Blanchett went for a heavily embellished Armani gown in a light tan, paired with huge opal drop earrings by Chopard. By embellished gown we mean jeweled from top to bottom, a look she said was "heavy, but I love it!"

Sandra Bullock wowed in a strapless, deep blue Alexander McQueen gown that showed off draping below the waist and included a short train. The evening belonged to solid colors and classic rather than edgy looks, Rubenstein said.

"There were columns, columns, columns," he said of that time-tested silhouette. "And black made a reappearance. Most every person was in a solid color."

As did the pregnant ladies, looking lovely, as usual.

Olivia Wilde went for a chic black sleeveless Valentino that draped rather than hugged her baby bump. It was a switch from the tight green — but still gorgeous — look she wore at the Golden Globes in January. Fellow pregnant lady Kerry Washington went for a loose-fitting pleated plum Jason Wu dress as her bump accessory this time around.

Classic dark blues and blacks were joined by jewel tones, including a bright green Escada for Viola Davis, along with paler looks like Nyong'o's for Portia de Rossi, who wore an ivory Naeem Khan with a beaded halter.

Idina Menzel, among the evening's performers, showed off a diamond collar necklace with her black gown at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. A few men abandoned black jackets for white ones, including Jared Leto, Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Seacrest.

Nyongo's fashion goal, she said, was to wear her fashion, rather than the other way around.

"I want to feel more present than the garment I'm wearing," she told The Associated Press.

Kate Hudson went full-on Hollywood in draped white Versace, while the night's more subdued looks included Julia Roberts, in a dark Givenchy with a ruffle at the waist. Anne Hathaway presented during the ceremony as the lights set the sparking bodice of her black Gucci gown dancing.

Even Lady Gaga went for classic, in a gold strapless gown she wore with a long sash around her neck.

"Everyone is dressing very kind of Audrey Hepburn classic. Nobody was doing anything too out there. It's more about the fact that this is the way to look good, rather than for shock value," Rubenstein said. "People just want to look beautiful and be noticed for themselves."